When it comes to pay-per-view numbers, money and overall impact,
all parties involved believe that Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor
McGregor has the potential to be among the biggest fights ever
in combat sports.

The measuring stick, of course, is Mayweather’s 2015 bout against
Manny Pacquiao, which drew more than 4.4 million pay-per-view buys
and generated more than $400 million. While Mayweather vs. Pacquiao
was a matchup that took years to make, “Money’s” looming showdown
with McGregor has a different feel.

“We’re not only drawing fans from the universe of boxing and the
universe MMA fans. We’ve actually tapped into the audience that
doesn’t follow either sport,” Showtime Sports Executive Vice
President Stephen Espinoza said during a recent conference call.
“This is such an unprecedented event, such a spectacle that all of
a sudden people who have never really been interested in either MMA
or boxing are interested in this event due to the nature of the
competition and the nature of these two personalities. That’s an
untapped part of the market that not even Mayweather-Pacquiao
touched.”

The fight itself did not live up to the hype that preceded
Mayweather-Pacquiao, as “Money” cruised to a unanimous verdict in a
bout that was lacking in terms of memorable action. Still, the the
pay-per-view buy rate suggests that plenty of people were willing
to shell nearly $100 to witness the bout. Floyd Ellerbe, CEO of
Mayweather Promotions, has noticed enough interest in the McGregor
fight to be convinced that it could financially surpass that
landmark contest.

“Why not? Obviously with Mayweather-Pacquiao..that was a fight
fans had been talking about for years,” Ellerbe said. “There’s not
one place that I go to, that Floyd goes to, that anybody associated
with Floyd Mayweather [goest to], that [someone] doesn’t ask the
question, ‘Floyd, are you going to fight Conor
McGregor?’ This is a very, very hot fight, and this is the
fight that the fans want. It’s going to be a tremendous event.”

The interest in Mayweather vs. Pacquiao led to an $89.95
pay-per-view fee — with a $10 upcharge for high definition. While
prices haven’t yet been set for Mayweather-McGregor, all signs
point to it being more costly than the average UFC or boxing event.
White disputed the notion that viewers balked at the high price of
the Mayweather-Pacquiao bout, using the pay-per-view figures as
evidence.

“When you talk about superfights, this is a superfight. Two
different guys from two different sports going in and putting it on
the line,” White said. “Obviously you can’t charge what you
normally charge for a pay-per-view, I get it. Saying that there was
pushback on the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight? There was anything but.
It’s the biggest fight ever in the history of pay-per-view.”

Although nobody can predict exactly how well Mayweather vs.
McGregor will draw, expectations are understandably high. Both
fighters have consistently performed well at the box office and are
the biggest stars in their respective sports. With that in mind,
Espinoza isn’t putting a cap on what kind of numbers the fight can
produce.

“To tell you the truth the sky is the limit. We have what is truly
an unprecedented event. There’s nothing to compare it against,” he
said. “We’ve never seen this kind of competition in the ring. We’ve
never seen these types of personalities get together in promotion.
And we’ve never seen a combat sports event, or really a sporting
event of this magnitude. What that means, we’re gonna have our
calculators ready and all the batteries charged. The sky’s the
limit.”